Here is a picture of me at Rich & Jen's on Father's Day with James and Devin.
We are busy eating grapes and playing with Grandpa.

Lots of fun for us all.

Richard and Devin Valdez

Now, these two guys know how to smile for the camera.

Cathy & James

Cathy and James at Easter Egg Hunt.

Devin trying to pull me on his wagon at the Air Show.

James @ Easter Egg Hunt

James Steck at the easter egg hunt.

Grandson Devin @ Air Show

Devin next to my old KC-135 tires.

Capt Steck, USAF Ret.

My old aircraft that I flew at Mather when it was and Air Force base. I have a little over 4,000 hours of flight time in that bird, some of it in Viet Nam.

James @ Mather Air Show

This is Mr Air Force at the Mather Air Show. As you can see, a lot of people showed up for the Air Force Thunderbirds.

Steck Family Re-Union of 2007

This is a rare picture of my extended family. From left to right are the following: Jennifer J. Valdez (Steck), Devin Valdez, Richard Valdez, Roger P. Steck, Cathy Steck, James R. Steck, Phillip G. Steck, Maddie Steck, Shannon Steck, Malcolm L. Steck, Kristi Steck, and Victoria Steck.

Baby Sheep

Here is a couple of the little guys. One looks like he is streaching out his rear legs.

Neighbor's Sheep Mowing the Grass

Here is a picture of John's sheep mowing my grass in the upper pasture. Notice the new baby sheep, all five of them. I will post some more pictures of the babies.

Who Will Cross First?

TANKER and DANA trying to decide who will cross the spillway first. They were such a good match for each other. Who would of every figured that a female Pitt Bull would make a perfect mate for a male Hybrid Wolf.

TANKER

We miss you so much.

TANKER Running In Lower Pasture

TANKER loved running in the lower pasture with DANA. This picture was taken just 32 hours before his spirit went to Hybrid Heaven.

Here is a picture of TANKER next to the creek below the spillway. He loved the sound of the water running down the creek.

TANKER at Play

TANKER loved runing in the lower pasture with DANA, a female Pit Bull one third his age. They also enjoyed watching the water flow out of the spillway from my pond. Here is a picture of them the day before TANKER's passing.

Tanker's Passing in the Night

My best friend for the last 14 years passed away in his sleep on Sunday night, the 27th of January, 2008. TANKER was the most beautiful Wolf Hybrid I have ever known other than the rest of his pack which included his mom SHILO, a 98% Timber Wolf, his dad MASHU, a 70% Siberian Husky, and his sister SPIRIT. TANKER and SPIRIT were 2nd generation Hybrids consisting of 77% Timber Wolf from their mom, and 30% Husky from their dad. The last 3% was most likely Alaskan Malmute due to their three layer fur coats and large size.

TANKER now joins the rest of the Pack to run free and play in the Pastures of the Spirit World.

I am missing him and his family so much, it really hurts. His final resting place is in the lower pasture of my 5 acre property over-looking a creek. I will try and post some pictures of the whole Pack and TANKER's final resting place.

This picture of TANKER was taken on January 21, 2008 during an outing in the lower pasture, six (6) days before his passing to the other side.

Here is the pine tree that got blown over by the 50-60 mph southward winds. Notice how the roots were pulled straight up out of the wet ground. This will be a fun clean-up project. Also notice the muddy water in the pond.

This is the tree next to the pond that was blown over by the 50-60 mph south winds. Notice how the roots were just pulled up out of the wet ground. This will be a fun clean-up project.

My cat NOBODY made it through the storm without a scratch, as she stayed inside with me the whole time. A couple of times she wanted to go outside, and then changed her mind when she saw the high winds and heavy rain.

Here is what my pond looked like before the storm last week. Water nice and clear with little damage to the trees around the pond. Not so now. Well, at least I will have some firewood now to burn in my wood stove.

Very Windy on the Homestead Tonight

Well, I am staying up late tonight to monitor my new property for wind damage and flooding from the creek that leads into my pond. It is 4:30 am and other than a lot of wind, no rain has come yet from the 2nd storm that is starting to roll in. My only concern is my spillway to my dam not letting the water out fast enough, but I have all the blocking boards removed. I can hear the winds blowing outside. The wind may get as big as 60 knot peaks at times in the foothills.

I have my generator full of gas and fresh batteries for my flashlight.

I place all outside chairs and tables inside the barn including all trash cans.

Only thing I could not get secured totally was the trailer awning. It is stuck in a 1/2 extended position. So it may get damaged some. It needs to be replaced anyway.

That is it for now.

Master and Tanker

This picture was taken during my visit to Eugene, Oregon. Left to right is Sue (Mal's wife), Mal and myself.

Here is another pic of Mal and the girls at the airport. From left to right are, Victoria, Kristi, Shannon, and Maddie.

Here is Devin having some dinner with his dad Rich at a local eating establishment.
It was a frame taken from another movie file.

This is a small movie of James, but I think it will show only as a single picture for now do to my limited bandwidth here on the homestead.

Sacramento Zoo Entrance

Mom's and Dad's bring the two new grandson's into the entrance to the Sacramento Zoo. They were both ready for a sight-seeing adventure.

Grandsons

Devin and James had their first trip to the Sacramento Zoo. They had their eyes wide open looking at all the animals.